#24 Oklahoma St Cowboys at #2 Kansas St Cowboys
Saturday, November 3, 2012, 8:00 pm Eastern, TV: ABC
Bill Snyder Stadium – Manhattan, Kansas
Opening Line: Kansas St -8
Current Line: Kansas St -8 1/2
Opening Total: 66
Current Total: 66
Opening Money Line: KSU -325 / OSU +275
Current Money Line: KSU -335 / OSU +285
The Oklahoma St Cowboys and Kansas St Wildcats meet for the 59th time Saturday night in Manhattan. Oklahoma St leads the series 36-22, including 17-14 in Manhattan. Oklahoma St won last year’s meeting 52-45 in Stillwater. Kansas St hasn’t beaten the Cowboys since 2006.
For the second season in a row one of these teams has BCS Championship aspirations and the other is trying to spoil those hopes. Last year Oklahoma St was undefeated and Kansas St had one loss. This year the roles are reversed as #2 Kansas St is one of 6 undefeated teams left in the country, and 5-2 Oklahoma St is trying to pull off the upset. The Wildcats are 5-0 in the Big 12, and Oklahoma and Oklahoma St are both 3-1.
Oklahoma St is coached by Mike Gundy. The Cowboys have losses at Arizona 59-38 and at home against Texas 41-36. OSU has home wins over Savannah St 84-0, Louisiana-Lafayette 65-24, Iowa St 31-10, and last week against TCU 36-14. The Cowboys also have a 20-14 road win at Kansas. Oklahoma St has won 3 games in a row. The Cowboys are 3-3 ATS and the total is also 3-3 this season. OSU was a 6.5 point favorite against TCU and the total was 63.
Oklahoma St is averaging 586.1 yards per game on offense, including 347.1 passing yards and 239 rushing yards. The Cowboys are outscoring teams 44-23 this season. OSU is #1 in total offense, and in the top 13 nationally in the other offensive categories. The Cowboys are -4 in turnovers with 13 giveaways. OSU is averaging 63 penalty yards per game and has allowed 3 sacks. The Cowboys are 57/115 on third and fourth down conversions, and 38/41 scoring in the red zone with 27 touchdowns. Oklahoma St is allowing 362.7 yards per game on defense, including 235 passing yards and 127.7 rushing yards. The Cowboys have forced 14 sacks this season and 9 turnovers. OSU opponents are 44/130 on third and fourth down conversions, and 16/20 scoring in the red zone with 13 touchdowns.
Oklahoma St quarterback J.W. Walsh is out for the season with a knee injury. He passed for 1,467 yards with 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, and also rushed for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wes Lunt started the first three games of the season but missed a few games with a knee injury. He is now the starter again. Lunt is 69/108 passing (63.9%) for 912 yards with 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Running back Joseph Randle has 160 carries, 891 yards and 9 touchdowns, along with 20 catches, for 154 yards. Desmond Roland has 4 rushing touchdowns, Jeremy Smith has 5. Receiver Josh Stewart has 48 catches, 574 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tracy Moore has 20 catches, 259 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is out indefinitely with an ankle injury. Blake Jackson and Charlie Moore each have 21 catches. John Goodlett has only 5 catches, but two of them went for touchdowns. Six Cowboys are listed as out against Kansas St.
Kansas St is coached by Bill Snyder. The Wildcats are off to their best start since 1999. Kansas St has home wins over Missouri St 51-9, Miami-(FL) 52-13, North Texas 35-21, and Kansas 56-16, and last week against Texas Tech 55-24 along with road wins at Oklahoma 24-19, Iowa St 27-21 and at West Virginia 55-14. The Wildcats are 6-1-1 ATS and the total is 4-3. Kansas St was a 7 point favorite against then #14 Texas Tech and the total was 60.5.
Kansas St is averaging 433.8 yards per game, including 205 passing yards and 228.8 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats are outscoring teams 44-17 this season. K-State is in the top 17 nationally in rushing and scoring offense. The Wildcats are +10 in turnovers for the season with 10 turnovers. Kansas St is 49/89 on third and fourth down conversions, and 41/46 scoring in the red zone with 31 touchdowns. The Wildcats have only allowed 6 sacks this season, which is remarkable when you consider how much quarterback Collin Klein runs with the ball. Kansas St is allowing 340.4 yards per game on defense including 239.5 passing yards and 100.9 rushing yards. Kansas St has struggled to stop the pass, but they are in the top 15 nationally against the run and in points allowed. Wildcat opponents are 55/125 on third and fourth down conversions, and 21/29 scoring in the red zone with 13 touchdowns. K-State has 20 sacks this season and has forced 19 turnovers.The Wildcats have 4 defensive/special teams touchdowns.
Kansas St quarterback Collin Klein has completed 117 of 165 passes (70.9%) for 1,630 yards with 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He is also the second leading rusher with 122 carries, 634 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is widely considered to be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. Running back John Hubert has 128 carries, 722 yards, and 10 touchdowns, along with 11 catches for 57 yards. Back-up quarterback Daniel Sams has 25 carries, 215 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receiver Tyler Lockett has 29 catches and 453 yards and 3 touchdowns, along with a kickoff return for a touchdown. Chris Harper has 30 catches, 453 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Tramaine Thompson has 22 catches, 356 yards, and 4 touchdowns. He also has a punt return for a touchdown. Travis Tannahill has 10 catches, 147 yards and a touchdown.
Oklahoma St is 5-1 ATS after gaining more than 450 yards, 11-3 on fieldturf, 21-7 after passing for more than 280 yards, 13-5 in conference games, 18-7-1 in road games, 5-2 against teams with winning records, 17-7 after a straight up win, 21-9 overall, 1-4 after a cover, and 1-5 after a straight up win of 20 points or more. The underdog is 4-1 ATS in this series recently and five of the last six have gone over the total.
Kansas St is 4-0-1 ATS after a straight up win, and against teams with winning records, 5-1 on fieldturf, 4-1-1 after scoring more than 40 points, 4-1 at home, 21-6-1 in Big 12 games, 10-3-1 after a cover, 6-2 in November, 15-5-1 overall, 19-7 after allowing more than 280 passing yards, 42-20-1 after a straight up win of 20 points or more, and 3-8 at home against teams with winning road records. The Wildcats are 6-2 ATS against Oklahoma St in the last 8.
These of two of the highest scoring offenses in the country. The defenses aren’t terrible but there should be a lot of points scored. Although the Wildcats did hold high powered offenses West Virginia and Texas Tech in check in the last two weeks. These teams have played close games against each other recently, and I don’t think this game will be an exception to that trend. I think the Wildcats pull off the win in the end though.
Saturday’s college football picks are available now. Our handicappers are red hot this season.
